A vehicle navigation apparatus mounted on a vehicle has a location function for detecting a current position of the vehicle and for overlapping the current position on a road map on a screen of a display, and a route guidance function for searching an optimum route from a starting point to a destination and for guiding the optimum route visually with displaying a map and audibly with outputting sound. A user utilizes the route guidance function of the apparatus, so that the user can reach the destination surely without losing the route to the destination and without going a long way around even if the user goes to the destination for the first time and the user passes through an unfamiliar road.
In the above case, the route guidance function provides to set one route or one type of route to the destination and to guide the one route. However, JP-2005-227294 teaches that multiple routes from a starting point to an end point are searched based on different searching conditions such as a minimum driving time condition, a minimum driving distance condition and a minimum cost condition. When the vehicle reaches a branch point of multiple routes, the display displays an enlarged diagram near the branch point. Further, the display displays information about the searching conditions relating to the routes from the branch point. The user can selects one of the routes in view of the information about the searching conditions.
When the apparatus executes the route guidance process, the display displays a road map around the current position of the vehicle in front of a driving direction, and displays the optimum route, which has a color different from other roads. For example, the optimum route is blue. When the user looks at the map on the display screen, and the user determines that it is better for the user to passes through another route rather than the optimum route, the user may drive the vehicle on the other route deviated from the optimum route. Alternatively, the user may ignore the optimum route and drive the vehicle through another route.